CHAPTER 10: BEAUTIFUL THEORIES AND UGLY FACTS
The alfalfa theory was initially debunked in R. E. Pfadt’s “Food Plants as Factors in the Ecology of the Lesser Migratory Grasshopper, Melanoplus mexicanus” (Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 290, 1949). Cantrall and Young’s bison theory was put forth in “Contrasts in the Orthopteran Fauna of Grassland, Forest and Transitional Areas in Southern Indiana” (Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Sciences, 63:157-162, 1954). Riegert’s initial version of the bison theory appeared in “A History of Grasshopper Abundance Surveys and Forecasts of Outbreaks in Saskatchewan” (Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada, 52:5-99, 1968). For an excellent coverage of bison ecology, one can do no better than to read The Bison and the Great Plains (Animals and Their Ecosystems Series), by J. D. Taylor and D. Taylor (1992), and the definitive examination of the bison’s demise is surely A. C. Isenberg’s (2000) The Destruction of the Bison: An Environmental History, 1750-1920. An outstanding and absolutely authoritative synthesis of the ecology of the Rocky Mountain West is D. H. Knight’s (1994) Mountains and Plains. There are innumerable books on ecology that are pertinent to the Rocky Mountain locust, and although there are many recent writings, one of the most compelling, provocative, and readable works remains T. F. H. Allen and T. W. Hoekstra’s (1992) Toward a Unified Ecology.
CHAPTER 11: SECRETS IN THE ICE
My findings from the first three glacial expeditions are presented in a series of coauthored papers: “Grasshopper Glacier: A Vanishing Biological Resource” (American Entomologist, 36:18-27, 1990); “The Preserved Fauna of Grasshopper Glacier (Crazy Mountains, Montana): Unique Insights to Acridid Biology” (5th Proceedings of the International Meeting of the Orthopterists’ Society, Boletin Sanidad Vegetal, 20:223-236, 1991); “Preserved Insects and Physical Condition of Grasshopper Glacier, Carbon County, Montana, U.S.A.,” (Arctic and Alpine Research, 24:229-232, 1992). Intriguing early descriptions of Grasshopper Glacier can be found in: M. W. Rivinus’s “Grasshopper Glacier” (Frontiers, Vol. 15, 1952); W. C. Alden’s “Grasshoppers on Ice” (Nature Magazine, June 1930); R. E. Hutchins’s Grasshoppers and Their Kin (1972); and my personal favorite, F. J. Farnsworth’s Cubby Returns (the relevant passage is on pp. 113-115, 1935). An exceptionally timely and well-written account of the ongoing recession of glaciers in the Rocky Mountains is D. Fagre and M. Hall’s “Modeled Climate-Induced Glacier Change in Glacier National Park, 1850-2100” (BioScience, 53:131-140, 2003). For a more complete understanding of my idiosyncratic compulsion to understand the lives of grasshoppers, the reader is referred to my collection of essays, Grasshopper Dreaming: Reflections on Killing and Loving (2002).
CHAPTER 12: THE MOTHER LODE
The scientific papers that my colleagues and I authored concerning our finds on Knife Point Glacier are “The Preserved Insect Fauna of the Wind River Glaciers (Fremont County, U.S.A.): Insights into the Ecology of the Extinct Rocky Mountain Locust” (Environmental Entomology, 23:220-235, 1994) and “Preserved Grasshopper Fauna of Knife Point Glacier, Fremont County, Wyoming, U.S.A.” (Arctic and Alpine Research, 23:108-114, 1991). Our work on the cuticular hydrocarbon profile of the specimens extracted from the glaciers and comparisons to museum specimens of the Rocky Mountain locust was reported in “Cuticular Hydrocarbons of Glacially-Preserved Melanoplus: Identification by GC/MS and Comparison with Hydrocarbons of M. sanguinipes and M. spretus” (Journal of Orthoptera Research, 5:1-12, 1996). Some very well-written views on particular aspects of molecular genetics include Matt Ridley’s Genome (2000; focused on the human genome but highly readable); James Watson’s DNA: The Secret of Life (2003; a fascinating mixture of both science and the author’s views of modern genetics); and Lynn H. Caporale’s Darwin in the Genome: Molecular Strategies in Biological Evolution (2002; also focused on the human genome—rather than that of grasshoppers—but with a rich interpretation of genetics and evolution that makes an excellent counterpoint to Watson’s views).
CHAPTER 13: PIONEERS ON TRIAL
There are many excellent historical accounts of the history, politics, and sociology of the American frontier. Perhaps the book most relevant to the time and place of the Rocky Mountain locust’s extinction is Gilbert C. Fite’s The Farmers’ Frontier, 1865-1900 (1966). For a more complete coverage of the places and events that shaped the continent beyond the 100th meridian, Geoffrey C. Ward’s lavishly illustrated The West (1996) is an unbeatable read. The biology, ecology, and conservation of monarch butterflies are the subject of many children’s books, but fortunately there are a few excellent works for adults as well. Two the most engaging perspectives on this insect are Chasing Monarchs (1999), by Robert M. Pyle, and Four Wings and a Prayer: Caught in the Mystery of the Monarch Butterfly (2002), by Sue Halpern. As for ecological connections between grasshoppers and habitat qualities (particularly vegetation and soils), two papers that I coauthored with Scott Schell are somewhat technical but accessible to the scientifically literate reader: “Spatial Analysis of Ecological Factors Related to Grasshopper Population Dynamics in Wyoming” (Environmental Entomology, 26:1343-1353, 1997) and “Spatial Characteristics of Rangeland Grasshopper Population Dynamics in Wyoming: Implications for Pest Management” (Environmental Entomology, 26:1056-1065, 1997).
CHAPTER 14: WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
My final synthesis of the Rocky Mountain locust’s extinction was coauthored with Larry DeBrey and published as “A Solution for the Sudden and Unexplained Extinction of the Rocky Mountain Locust, Melanoplus spretus” (Environmental Entomology, 19:1194-1205, 1990). Portions of the locust’s story were told in my essays in American Entomologist (Vol. 47, 2001), Orion (Summer, 2002), Wild Earth (Spring, 2002), and High Country News (February 3, 2003). Compelling views on the value of biodiversity include Norman Myers’s The Sinking Ark (1979), Paul and Anne Ehrlich’s Extinction (1981), Edward O. Wilson’s Biophilia (1986), Al Gore’s Earth in the Balance (1993)—and the least scientific and most pleasurable read in this genre, Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine’s Last Chance to See (1992). My efforts to understand the moral standing of insects and the natural world can be traced in a series of papers: “Not to Harm a Fly: Our Ethical Obligations to Insects” (Between the Species, 4:204-211, 1988); “Competing Values and Moral Imperatives: An Overview of Ethical Issues in Biological Control” (Agriculture and Human Values, 14:205-210, 1997); “Agriculture and Biodiversity: Finding Our Place in this World” (Agriculture and Human Values, 16:365-379, 1999); and my upcoming collection of essays, Sacred Steppes: Finding Meaning in the Grasslands.
ILLUSTRATIONS
CHAPTER 1
Photograph of a wagon train in 1882 (from the Union Pacific Historical Collection).
CHAPTER 2
Drawing of the egg-laying behavior of the Rocky Mountain locust, by Charles V. Riley (from C. V. Riley, A. S. Packard, Jr., and Cyrus Thomas, First Annual Report of the United States Entomological Commission for the Year 1877 Relating to the Rocky Mountain Locust [Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1878]).
Title page from W. Kirby and W. Spence, An Introduction to Entomology (London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans and Roberts, 1859).
CHAPTER 3
Image of a swarm of the Rocky Mountain locust descending on a farm community (from a lithograph made of a sketch by Howard Purcell in 1874).
CHAPTER 4
Drawing of the Flory Locust-Machine in operation (from C. V. Riley, Destructive Locusts: A Popular Consideration of a Few of the More Injurious Locusts [or “Grasshoppers”] of the United States, Together with the Best Means of Destroying Them [Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1891].
CHAPTER 5
Drawing of General Edward Otho Cresap Ord (from the History Central Web site).
CHAPTER 6
Photograph of Charles Valentine Riley (from Arnold Mallis, American Entomologists [Rutgers, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1971]).
CHAPTER 7
Drawing of a trio of settlers battling the Ro
cky Mountain locust with nets (from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, September 1, 1888, vol. 67, p. 37, with permission of the Minnesota Historical Society).
CHAPTER 8
Photograph of Norman Criddle studying at a table (from Canada’s Digital Collections Program, Industry Canada, Ottawa).
CHAPTER 9
Drawing of the molting process of the last nymphal stage into the adult of the Rocky Mountain locust, by Charles V. Riley (from C. V. Riley, A. S. Packard, Jr., and Cyrus Thomas, First Annual Report of the United States Entomological Commission for the Year 1877 Relating to the Rocky Mountain Locust [Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1878]).
CHAPTER 10
Map showing the Permanent, Subpermanent, and Temporary Zones of the Rocky Mountain locust (from C. V. Riley, A. S. Packard, Jr., and Cyrus Thomas, Second Report of the United States Entomological Commission for the Years 1878 and 1879 Relating to the Rocky Mountain Locust and Western Cricket [Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880]).
CHAPTER 11
Photograph of the Grasshopper Glacier lying above Montana’s Black Canyon, by Larry D. DeBrey (with permission of the photographer).
CHAPTER 12
Aerial photograph of Knife Point Glacier, Wyoming (U.S. Geological Survey).
CHAPTER 13
Postcard photograph of Bennett Avenue, Cripple Creek Colorado, 1912 (by permission of Ruth Zirkle).
CHAPTER 14
Photograph of the author on Knife Point Glacier, Wyoming, by Larry D. DeBrey (with permission of the photographer).
INDEX
Acre
Acrididae
Acridology
Aedeagus
Africa, locusts in swarm of 380 C.E.
Agassiz, Louis
Agrarianism
and ideal of self-sufficiency
vs. industrialism
Agricultural experiment stations
Agriculture, strategically diversified
AIDS
Albert’s Swarm of 1875
Alfalfa
Alternative crops
American Entomologist (journal)
American Indians. See Native American Indians
American Naturalist (magazine)
Anderson, P.W.
Andrus, Milo
Angels
Animal production. See Cattle grazing
Animal production
Anti-Locust Research Centre
Aquinas, Thomas
Argentina
Army
and federal relief assistance
and U.S. Entomological Commission’s calling to use to fight locusts
Army Signal Corps
Arthropod-Borne Animal Diseases Research Laboratory
Asia, central and insect outbreaks
Atkins, Annette
Atwood, Kimball C.
Aughey, Samuel, Jr.
background of
in Nebraska
and promotion of birds as predators of locusts
Aulocara elliotti
Australia
Bands
Baretooth Mountains
Beagle (English survey ship)
Beaver
Belknap, William
Bible, ambiguous message regarding locust swarms
Big and Little Blues, crossing of nymphs
Bigheaded grasshopper
Bilateral asymmetry
Biogeography
Biological control
and California citrus
of locust
Biological diversity
Biology of locusts
Biomass
and Albert’s Swarm of 1875
of bison vs. locusts
Birds, The (motion picture)
Bison
and extinction of as detrimental to locusts
killing of for meat and hides
and loss of buffalo favorable to locusts
as means of suppression of American Indians
population of prior to European settlement
Biting of humans
Black Canyon Lake
Black Sea basin
and agricultural cultivation and grazing
and continued locust outbreaks
Bloomer, John and Arthur
Bomar, Chuck
Bond, Orlando
Bonnet, John
Botzen, Austria
Bounty payments
Brazil
Brett, Charles
Brett, Charles H.
Brooks, Arthur
Bruner, Lawrence
Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society
Bull Lake Glacier
Burne, Jeff
Burning fields
Burning locusts
Burundi
Buxton, Patrick A.
California Fruit Growers Convention
Canfield Pans
Cannibalism
Cannon, Mary
Cantrall, Irving
Carlen, John
Carlson, Dave
Carolina grasshopper
Catastrophe theory
Cather, Willa
Cattle grazing
Central Asian locust swarms
Chalmer, Richard
Chamonix
Chapco, Bill
Charles the Bold
Chickens. See Poultry
Child, Albert Lyman
Chinese citrus groves
Cholera
Christian response to locusts
and Cold Springs, Minnesota Virgin Mary chapel
historical
and offering of prayers
and repentance and entreaty for removal of scourge
and settlers as sinful deserving punishment
Christianson, Tim
Church of Jesus of the Latter Day Saints. See Mormons
Cicadas
Citrus industry of California
Clark, Hiram
Clearwinged grasshopper
Climate and extinction of Rocky Mountain locust
Cline, Isaac
Clothes, eating of
Coal tar
Cobb, Stephen
Cold Springs, Minnesota
Colobmo (television show)
Competitive exclusion
Complexity theory
Conference of Governors of 1876
Conscription fighters against locusts
Control methods. See Fighting against locusts
Cooke, Jay
Cooke City, Montana
Corn blight of 1970
Cottony-cushion scale
Crazy Mountains
Creationism
Criddle, Norman
and favorable places of habitat of locusts within Permanent Zone
and Permanent Zone of Rocky Mountain locust
and phase transformation of Rocky Mountain locust
Criddle, Percy
Criddle mixture
Criminal Prosecution and Capital Punishment of Animals, The (Evans)
Cromwell, Oliver
Crop diversification
Crusher machines
Cyrenaica
Dakota Boom
Dakota Territories
and day of public prayer and fasting
and federal food relief assistance
and seed assistance
Dandelion
Darwin, Charles
Darwin, Thomas
Davis, Cushman
Dawson, G.M.
Days of prayer and fasting
DeBrey, Bill
DeBrey, Larry
and Grasshopper Glacier expedition of 1987
and Grasshopper Glacier expedition of 1988
and Grasshopper Glacier expedition of 1989
habitat destruction theory
and Knifepoint Glacier expedition of 1989
De Geer, Charles
Desert locust of Old Testament
Devastation of fields, description of
Diapause
Diet of human beings
Diet of locusts
Dinwoody Glacier
Disappearance of Rocky Mountain locust, from 1902 until 1995
and ability to transform their form
and ambivalent reports regarding prevailing into 1950s
lack of tracking of
not noticed or reported upon
and process of the swarm is gone
sporadic early reports of
Disease
Ditches
DNA testing
Dodge, Richard I.
Dodge County, Nebraska, July 1875
Double-blind experiment
Drought
of 1870s
and grasshopper invasions
and locust spread and fire
randomness of
Drowning locusts. See Flooding
Dudley, N.A.M.
Dust Bowl of the 1930s
Dynamite
Eating of locusts
Ecology and ecological balance
and bottleneck of monarch butterflies
changing processes of to control insects
effect of loss of Rocky Mountain locust upon
and extinction of bison as cause of locust swarms
and habitat bottleneck of Rocky Mountain locust
Economic depression of 1870s
Economic entomology
Riley as father of and legacy of
Riley’s description of importance of
scale of today
and U.S. Department of Interior’s Geological and Geographic Survey
Locust Page 33